The most visible stars. Reference. The brightest stars visible at our latitudes (55o)

• Translation

Do you know them all, as well as the reasons for their brightness?

I'm hungry for new knowledge. The point is to learn every day and become brighter and brighter. This is the essence of this world.
- Jay-Z

But those of us who don't get to witness such a spectacle on a periodic basis are missing the fact that stars seen from urban areas with high light pollution look different than when viewed in dark conditions. Their color and relative brightness immediately set them apart from their neighboring stars, and each has its own story.

Residents of the northern hemisphere can probably immediately recognize Ursa Major or the W in Cassiopeia, and in the southern hemisphere the most famous constellation must be the Southern Cross. But these stars are not among the ten brightest!

Milky Way next to the Southern Cross

Every star has its own life cycle, to which she is attached from the moment of birth. When any star forms, the dominant element will be hydrogen - the most abundant element in the Universe - and its fate is determined only by its mass. Stars with 8% the mass of the Sun can ignite nuclear fusion reactions in their cores, fusing helium from hydrogen, and their energy gradually moves from the inside out and pours out into the Universe. Low-mass stars are red (due to low temperatures), dim, and burn their fuel slowly—the longest-lived ones are destined to burn for trillions of years.

But the more mass a star gains, the hotter its core, and the larger the region in which nuclear fusion occurs. By the time it reaches solar mass, the star falls into class G, and its lifetime does not exceed ten billion years. Double the solar mass and you get a class A star that is bright blue and lives for less than two billion years. And the most massive stars, classes O and B, live only a few million years, after which their core runs out of hydrogen fuel. Not surprisingly, the most massive and hot stars are also the brightest. A typical class A star can be 20 times brighter than the sun, and the most massive ones – tens of thousands of times!

But no matter how a star begins life, the hydrogen fuel in its core runs out.

And from this moment the star begins to burn heavier elements, expanding into giant star, colder, but also brighter than the original one. The giant phase is shorter than the hydrogen burning phase, but its incredible brightness makes it visible from much greater distances than the original star was visible from.

Taking all this into account, let's move on to the ten brightest stars in our sky, in increasing order of brightness.

10. Achernar. A bright blue star with seven times the mass of the Sun and 3,000 times the brightness. This is one of the fastest rotating stars known to us! It rotates so fast that its equatorial radius is 56% greater than its polar radius, and the temperature at the pole - since it is much closer to the core - is 10,000 K higher. But it is quite far from us, 139 light years away.

9. Betelgeuse. A red giant star in the Orion constellation, Betelgeuse was a bright and hot O-class star until it ran out of hydrogen and switched to helium. Despite low temperature At 3500 K, it is more than 100,000 times brighter than the Sun, which is why it is among the ten brightest, despite being 600 light years away. Over the next million years, Betelgeuse will go supernova and temporarily become the brightest star in the sky, possibly visible during the day.

8. Procyon. The star is very different from those we have considered. Procyon – humble star F-class, only 40% larger than the Sun, and is on the verge of running out of hydrogen in its core - that is, it is a subgiant in the process of evolution. It is about 7 times brighter than the Sun, but is only 11.5 light years away, so it may be brighter than all but seven stars in our sky.

7. Rigel. In Orion, Betelgeuse is not the brightest of the stars - this distinction is awarded to Rigel, a star even more distant from us. It is 860 light years away, and with a temperature of just 12,000 degrees, Rigel is not a main sequence star - it is a rare blue supergiant! It is 120,000 times brighter than the Sun, and shines so brightly not because of its distance from us, but because of its own brightness.

6. Chapel. This is a strange star because it is actually two red giants with temperatures comparable to the Sun, but each is about 78 times brighter than the Sun. At a distance of 42 light years, it is the combination of its own brightness, relatively short distance and the fact that there are two of them that allows Capella to be on our list.

5. Vega. The brightest star from the Summer-Autumn Triangle, the home of the aliens from the film “Contact”. Astronomers used it as a standard "zero magnitude" star. It is located only 25 light years from us, belongs to the stars of the main sequence, and is one of the brightest class A stars known to us, and is also quite young, only 400-500 million years old. Moreover, it is 40 times brighter than the Sun, and the fifth brightest star in the sky. And of all the stars in the northern hemisphere, Vega is second only to one star...

4. Arcturus. The orange giant, on the evolutionary scale, is somewhere between Procyon and Capella. It is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere and can be easily found by the "handle" of the Big Dipper. It is 170 times brighter than the Sun, and, following evolutionary path, can become even brighter! It is only 37 light years away, and only three stars are brighter than it, all located in the southern hemisphere.

3. Alpha Centauri. This is a triple system in which the main member is very similar to the Sun, and is itself fainter than any star in the ten. But the Alpha Centauri system consists of the stars closest to us, so its location affects its apparent brightness - after all, it is only 4.4 light years away. Not at all like number 2 on the list.

2. Canopus. Supergiant white Canopus is 15,000 times brighter than the Sun, and is the second brightest star in the night sky, despite being 310 light-years away. It is ten times more massive than the Sun and 71 times larger - it is not surprising that it shines so brightly, but it could not reach the first place. After all, the brightest star in the sky is...

1. Sirius. It is twice as bright as Canopus, and northern hemisphere observers can often see it rising behind the constellation Orion in winter. It flickers frequently because its bright light can penetrate the lower atmosphere better than that of other stars. It's only 8.6 light-years away, but it's a class A star, twice as massive and 25 times brighter than the Sun.

It may surprise you that the top stars on the list are not the brightest or the closest stars, but rather combinations of bright enough and close enough to shine the brightest. Stars located twice as far away have four times less brightness, so Sirius shines brighter than Canopus, which shines brighter than Alpha Centauri, etc. Interestingly, class M dwarf stars, to which three out of every four stars in the Universe belong, are not on this list at all.

What we can take away from this lesson: sometimes the things that seem most striking and most obvious to us turn out to be the most unusual. Common things can be much harder to find, but that means we need to improve our observation methods!

Many people in November wonder: what bright star is visible in the east in the morning? She really very bright: other stars pale in comparison with her. It is still easily distinguishable even when here, in the southeast, dawn is already in full swing, washing away other stars from the sky. And then almost until sunrise this star remains completely alone.

I want to congratulate you - you are observing the planet Venus, the brightest luminary in our sky after the Sun and Moon!

Venus is only visible in the morning or evening sky- you will never see her late at night in the south. Her time is the predawn or twilight evening hours, when she literally reigns in the sky.

Check yourself if you are really observing Venus.

• • In November and December 2018 Venus is visible in the east in the morning, rising 4 hours before sunrise. For two hours it is visible in the dark sky, and for another hour - against the background morning dawn.
  • Venus color white, near the horizon may be slightly yellowish.
  • Venus does not flicker that is, it does not blink, does not tremble, but shines powerfully, evenly and calmly.
  • Venus is so bright that it no longer looks like a star, but like the spotlight of an airplane flying towards it. It has long been noted that the bright white light of the planet is capable of cast clear shadows on the snow; The easiest way to check this is outside the city on a moonless night, where the light of Venus is not interfered with by street lights. By the way, according to Russian astronomers, about 30% of reports of UFOs in our country occur on rising or setting Venus.

Venus against the background of the morning dawn is still bright and noticeable, although at this time the stars are practically no longer visible. Pattern: stellarium

In November 2018 - slightly to the right of the planet. Please note: Spica is one of the twenty brightest stars in the entire sky, but next to Venus it simply fades! Another bright star, Arcturus, is located above and to the left of Spica. Arcturus has a characteristic reddish color. So, Venus is much brighter than Arcturus and even more so Spica!

Watch these luminaries for a few minutes and compare them appearance with Venus. Notice how much brighter stars twinkle than Venus. Spica can even shimmer different colors! Also try to remember the brightness of Venus in comparison with the brightest stars - and you will never confuse it with anything else.

Few things can compare in beauty to Venus in the sky! The planet looks especially beautiful against the background of the flaring dawn. Beautiful celestial pictures are obtained when the crescent Moon is near Venus. The next such meeting will take place on the morning of December 3 and 4, 2018. Do not miss!

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10

• Alternative title:α Leo
• Apparent magnitude: 1,35
• Distance to the Sun: 77.5 St. years

The brightest star in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Regulus is located at a distance of about 77.5 light years from solar system. The name is translated from Latin as “prince”. In Arabic it is called Qalb Al-Asad (قلب الأسد), which means “heart of a lion.” Sometimes the translation of this name is found in Latin - Cor Leonis. Regulus is considered the last in the list of first magnitude stars, since the next brightest star, Adara, has a magnitude of 1.50m, which makes it a second magnitude star.

Regulus is about 3.5 times more massive than the Sun. This is a young star, only a few hundred million years old. It rotates extremely quickly, with a rotation period of only 15.9 hours, making its shape highly oblate (the equatorial radius is one third larger than the polar radius) and pumpkin-like. This results in gravitational dimming, in which the star's poles are significantly (50%) hotter and five times brighter (per unit surface area) than its equator. If it were spinning just 14% faster, the centripetal gravitational force would not be enough to keep the star from falling apart. The axis of rotation of Regulus almost coincides with the direction of movement of the star in space. It was also found that the rotation axis is perpendicular to the line of sight. This means that we are observing Regulus from the edge.

9

• Alternative title:α Cygnus
• Apparent magnitude: 1,25
• Distance to the Sun:~1550 St. years

The name "Deneb" comes from the Arabic dheneb ("tail"), from the phrase ذنب الدجاجة dhanab ad-dajājat, or "hen's tail". This star is the brightest in the constellation Cygnus, ranked ninth in brightness among the stars of the northern hemisphere and twentieth among the stars of both hemispheres. Together with the stars Vega and Altair, Deneb forms the “summer-autumn triangle”, which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer and autumn months.

Deneb is one of the largest and most powerful stars known to science. The diameter of Deneb is approximately equal to the diameter of the Earth's orbit (≈300 million kilometers). Deneb's absolute magnitude is estimated at −6.5m, making Deneb the most powerful star of all the 25 brightest stars in the sky.

The exact distance to Deneb remains a source of controversy to this day. Most stars located at the same distance from Earth are not visible to the naked eye, and can only be identified from a catalog, provided that they are known at all. On various Internet resources you can find values ​​from 1340 to 3200 light years. Recent parallax refinements estimate the distance to be between 1,340 and 1,840 light-years, with the most likely value being 1,550 light-years.

If Deneb were a point source of light at the same distance from Earth as the Sun, it would be much brighter than most industrial lasers. In one Earth day it emits more light than the Sun does in 140 years. If it were the same distance as Sirius, it would be brighter than the full moon.

The mass of Deneb is considered to be 15-25 solar. Since Deneb is a white supergiant, due to its high temperature and mass, we can conclude that it has a short lifespan and will go supernova in a couple of million years. Thermonuclear reactions involving hydrogen have already stopped in its core.

Every year, Deneb loses up to 0.8 millionths of its solar mass in the form of stellar wind. This is one hundred thousand times more than that of the Sun.

8

• Alternative title:β Gemini
• Apparent magnitude: 1,14
• Distance to the Sun: 40 St. years

This star was named in honor of one of the two Dioscuri brothers - Polydeuces ("Pollux" is his Latinized name). In the constellation drawing, Pollux is located on the head of the southern twin.

According to Johann Bayer's classification, the star is labeled as β Gemini, despite being the brightest in the constellation. “Alpha” was the name given to the star Castor with an apparent magnitude of 1.57. This happened due to the fact that visually these two everywhere are almost equally bright and just for such a case, when two stars of the same brightness are located close to each other, there is a second Bayer classification criterion (the first criterion is brightness) - priority is given to the more northern star.

Pollux is a small orange star that belongs to the spectral class K0 IIIb. Its luminosity is only 32 times greater than the luminosity of our Sun. Pollux's mass is 1.86 solar masses. Based on these data, it becomes clear that such a celestial body could not have entered the list of the brightest stars in the sky if not for its close distance to our planet. According to data for 2011, the distance from Pollux to Earth is only 40 light years, which by cosmic standards is not so much.

The only thing Pollux can boast of is its radius. According to the latest data, its radius exceeds the radius of our Sun by eight times. However, it is believed that it will gradually increase in size as Pollux slowly transforms into a red giant. Astronomical calculations suggest that the star's helium reserves will run out in about 100 million years, after which Beta Gemini will turn into a white dwarf.

In 2006, a group of astronomers confirmed the presence of an exoplanet around Pollux.

7

• Alternative title:α Taurus
• Apparent magnitude: 0.85 (variable)
• Distance to the Sun: 65 St. years

Aldebaran is the brightest star among all the stars zodiac constellations. The name comes from the Arabic word الدبران (al-dabarān), meaning “follower” - a star in the night sky follows the Pleiades. Because of its position in the head of Taurus, it was called the Eye of Taurus (lat. Oculus Taurī). The names Palilius and Lamparus are also known.

With an apparent magnitude of 0.85, Aldebaran is the 14th brightest star in the night sky. Its absolute magnitude is -0.3, and its distance from Earth is 65 light years.

Aldebaran has a spectral class of K5III, a surface temperature of 4010° Kelvin and a luminosity 425 times greater than that of the Sun. The star has a mass of 1.7 solar masses and a diameter that is 44.2 times the diameter of the Sun.

Aldebaran is one of the easiest stars to find in the night sky, partly because of its brightness and partly because spatial arrangement in relation to one of the most prominent asterisms in the sky. If you follow the three stars of Orion's belt from left to right (in the northern hemisphere) or from right to left (in the southern hemisphere), the first bright star you will find as you continue along this line is Aldebaran.

6

• Alternative title:α Eagle
• Apparent magnitude: 0,77
• Distance to the Sun: 18 St. years

Altair is one of the closest stars visible to the naked eye. Along with Beta Orla and Tarazed, the star forms the well-known lineage of stars sometimes called the Aquila family. Altair makes up one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle along with Deneb and Vega.

Altair has an extremely high rotation speed, reaching 210 kilometers per second at the equator. Thus, one period is about 9 hours. By comparison, the Sun takes just over 25 days to complete one full rotation around the equator. This rapid rotation causes Altair to be slightly flattened. Its equatorial diameter is 20 percent larger than its polar diameter.

Altair has a spectral class of A7Vn, a surface temperature of 7500° Kelvin and a luminosity 10.6 times greater than that of the Sun. Its mass is equal to 1.79 solar masses, and its diameter is 1.9 times larger than that of the Sun.

5

• Alternative title:α Orion
• Apparent magnitude: 0.50 (variable)
• Distance to the Sun: 495 - 640 St. years

Betelgeuse is a bright star in the constellation Orion. A red supergiant, a semi-regular variable star whose brightness varies from 0.2 to 1.2 magnitude. The minimum luminosity of Betelgeuse is 80 thousand times greater than the luminosity of the Sun, and the maximum is 105 thousand times greater. The distance to the star is, according to various estimates, from 495 to 640 light years. This is one of the largest stars known to astronomers: if you place it in the place of the Sun, then minimum size it would fill the orbit of Mars, and at maximum it would reach the orbit of Jupiter.

The angular diameter of Betelgeuse, according to modern estimates, is about 0.055 arcseconds. If we take the distance to Betelgeuse to be 570 light years, then its diameter will exceed the diameter of the Sun by approximately 950-1000 times. Betelgeuse's mass is approximately 13-17 solar masses.

4

• Alternative title:α Canis Minor
• Apparent magnitude: 0,38
• Distance to the Sun: 11.46 St. years

To the naked eye, Procyon appears as a single star. Procyon is actually a binary star system, consisting of a main sequence white dwarf called Procyon A and a faint white dwarf called Procyon B. Procyon appears so bright not because of its luminosity, but because of its proximity to the Sun. The system is located 11.46 light years (3.51 parsecs) away and is one of our closest neighbors.

The origin of the name Procyon is very interesting. It is based on long-term observation. Literal translation from Greek " before the Dog”, more literary - “harbinger of a dog”. The Arabs called him “Sirius, Shedding Tears.” All names have a direct connection with Sirius, who was worshiped by many ancient peoples. It is not surprising that while observing the starry sky, they noticed the harbinger of the ascending Sirius - Procyon. He appears in the sky 40 minutes earlier, as if running ahead. If you imagine Canis Minor in a drawing, then Procyon should be looked for in its hind legs.

Procyon shines like 8 of our Suns and is the eighth brightest star in the night sky, 6.9 times more luminous than the Sun. The mass of the star is 1.4 times more mass The sun, and the diameter is 2 times. It is moving towards the solar system at a speed of 4500 m per second

Finding PROcyon is not difficult. To do this, you need to face south. Find Orion's belt with your eyes and draw a line from the lower star of the belt to the east. You can navigate by the larger constellation Gemini. In relation to the horizon, Canis Minor is below them. And finding Procyon in the constellation Canis will not be difficult, because it is the only bright object, and it attracts with its radiance. Since the constellation Canis Minor is equatorial, that is, it rises very low above the horizon, in different time year it rises differently and best time for his observations - winter.

3

• Alternative title:αAuriga
• Apparent magnitude: 0,08
• Distance to the Sun: 42.6 St. years

Capella is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga, the sixth brightest star in the sky and the third brightest in the sky of the Northern Hemisphere.

Capella (Latin Capella - “Goat”), also Capra (Latin Capra - “goat”), Al Hayot (Arabic العيوق - “goat”) - a yellow giant. In the constellation drawing, Capella is located on the shoulder of Auriga. On maps of the sky, a goat was often drawn on this shoulder of Auriga. She's closer to north pole world than any other star of the first magnitude (the North Star is only of the second magnitude) and as a result plays an important role in many mythological tales.

From an astronomical point of view, Capella is interesting because it is a spectroscopic double star. Two giant stars of spectral class G, with luminosities of about 77 and 78 solar, are 100 million km apart (2/3 of the distance from the Earth to the Sun) and rotate with a period of 104 days. The first and fainter component, Capella Aa, has already evolved from the main sequence and is at the red giant stage; helium burning processes have already begun in the bowels of the star. The second and brighter component, Capella Ab, also left the main sequence and is located at the so-called “Hertzsprung gap” - a transitional stage of stellar evolution, during which thermonuclear fusion of helium from hydrogen in the core has already ended, but helium combustion has not yet begun. Capella is a source of gamma radiation, possibly due to magnetic activity on the surface of one of the components.

The masses of the stars are approximately the same and amount to 2.5 solar masses for each star. In the future, due to expansion to a red giant, the shells of the stars will expand and, quite likely, will touch.

The central stars also have a faint companion, which, in turn, is itself a binary star, consisting of two M-class red dwarf stars orbiting the main pair in an orbit with a radius of approximately one light year.

Capella was the brightest star in the sky from 210,000 to 160,000 BC. e. Before this, the role of the brightest star in the sky was played by Aldebaran, and after that by Canopus.

2

• Alternative title:α Lyra
• Apparent magnitude: 0.03 (variable)
• Distance to the Sun: b> 25.3 St. years

In summer and autumn, in the night sky, in the northern hemisphere of the celestial sphere, the so-called Great Summer Triangle can be distinguished. This is one of the most famous asterisms. We already know that it includes the familiar Deneb and Altair. They are located “lower”, and at the top point of the Triangle is Vega - a bright blue star, which is the main one in the constellation Lyra.

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second (after Arcturus) in the Northern Hemisphere. Vega is located 25.3 light years from the Sun and is one of the brightest stars in its vicinity (at a distance of up to 10 parsecs). This star has a spectral class of A0Va, a surface temperature of 9600° Kelvin, and its luminosity is 37 times greater than that of the Sun. The mass of the star is 2.1 solar masses, the diameter is 2.3 times greater than that of the Sun.

The name "Vega" comes from a rough transliteration of the word waqi ("falling") from the Arabic phrase. النسر الواقع‎ (an-nasr al-wāqi‘), meaning “falling eagle” or “falling vulture.”

Vega, sometimes called by astronomers "probably the most important star after the Sun", is currently the most studied star in the night sky. Vega was the first star (after the Sun) to be photographed, and also the first star to have its emission spectrum determined. Vega was also one of the first stars to which the distance was determined using the parallax method. Vega brightness for a long time was taken as zero when measuring stellar magnitudes, that is, it was the reference point and was one of the six stars that form the basis of the UBV photometry scale (measurement of star radiation in various spectral ranges).

Vega rotates very quickly around its axis, at its equator the rotation speed reaches 274 km/s. Vega rotates a hundred times faster, resulting in the shape of an ellipsoid of revolution. The temperature of its photosphere is heterogeneous: the maximum temperature is at the pole of the star, the minimum is at the equator. Currently observed from Earth, Vega is seen almost pole-on, making it appear to be a bright blue-white star. IN Lately asymmetries have been identified in Vega's disk, indicating the possible presence of at least one planet near Vega, the size of which may be approximately equal to the size of Jupiter.

In the 12th century BC. Vega was the North Star and will be again in 12,000 years. The "change" of the Polar Stars is associated with the phenomenon of precession of the earth's axis.

1

• Alternative title:α Bootes
• Apparent magnitude:−0.05 (variable)
• Distance to the Sun: 36.7 St. years

Arcturus (Alramech, Azimekh, Colanza) is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes and the northern hemisphere and the fourth brightest star in the night sky after Sirius, Canopus and the Alpha Centauri system. The apparent magnitude of Arcturus is −0.05m. Part of the Arcturus star stream, which, according to Ivan Minchev from the University of Strasbourg and his colleagues, arose as a result of absorption Milky Way another galaxy about 2 billion years ago.

Arcturus is one of the brightest stars in the sky and therefore is not difficult to find in the sky. Visible anywhere globe north of 71° south latitude, due to its slight northern declination. To find it in the sky, you need to draw an arc through the three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper - Aliot, Mizar, Benetnash (Alkaid).

Arcturus is an orange giant of spectral class K1.5 IIIpe. The letters “pe” (from English peculiar emission) mean that the spectrum of the star is atypical and contains emission lines. In the optical range, Arcturus is more than 110 times brighter than the Sun. From observations it is assumed that Arcturus is a variable star, its brightness changes by 0.04 magnitude every 8.3 days. As with most red giants, variability is caused by pulsations of the star's surface. The radius is 25.7 ± 0.3 solar radii, the surface temperature is 4300 K. The exact mass of the star is unknown, but most likely it is close to the solar mass. Arcturus is at that stage now stellar evolution, in which our daylight will be in the future - in the red giant phase. Arcturus is about 7.1 billion years old (but not more than 8.5 billion)

Arcturus, like more than 50 other stars, is located in the Arcturus stream, which unites stars of different ages and metallicity levels, moving at similar speeds and directions. Considering high speeds movements of stars, it is possible that in the past they were captured and absorbed by the Milky Way along with their parent galaxy. Therefore, Arcturus, one of the brightest and relatively closest stars to us, may have an extragalactic origin.

The name of the star comes from ancient Greek. Ἀρκτοῦρος, ἄρκτου οὖρος, “Guardian of the Bear.” According to one version ancient Greek legend, Arcturus is identified with Arkad, who was placed in the sky by Zeus to guard his mother, the nymph Callisto, transformed by Hera into a bear (constellation Ursa Major). According to another version, Arkad is the constellation Bootes, whose brightest star is Arcturus.

In Arabic, Arcturus is called Charis-as-sama, "guardian of the heavens" (see Charis).

In Hawaiian, Arcturus is called Hōkūle'a (Gav. Hōkūle'a) - "star of happiness", in the Hawaiian Islands it culminates almost exactly at the zenith. Ancient Hawaiian sailors used its height as a guide when sailing to Hawaii.

>The brightest star

Sirius is the brightest star in the modern Universe: history of bright stars in the past, Arcturus, Vega, Rigel, Deneb, influence of the movement of the Solar system in the galaxy.

For all residents below 83 degrees northern latitude the brightest star The visible Universe is Sirius. It reaches 1st magnitude and is the fifth brightest celestial object. But was he always the brightest star?

The brightest star in the modern Universe

Of course, in first place in terms of brightness is . The star is 8.6 light years away and was playing vital role for the ancient Egyptians, who built their calendar on its basis.

Interesting: The brightest star north of the celestial equator is , whose magnitude reaches -0.04.

Now keep this in mind, since it was she who got the title of the brightest star in the sky 200,000 years ago.

Where do such changes in the brightness rating of stellar celestial bodies come from? It's all about constant movement. Our solar system travels at a speed of 250 km/s. A full passage takes 250 million years. It turns out that in 4.5 billion years of existence we have completed only 18 orbital galactic flybys.

In addition, the Solar System also oscillates relative to the galactic plane (up and down). This takes another 93 million years. The stars move at the same time as us. In the video you can follow the movement of stars in the constellation Ursa Major.

Movement of the Big Dipper

All these movements are carried out quite chaotically and take long periods of time. Modern Sirius and Alpha Centauri are considered "the most bright stars Universe” because they are located close. But there are also those who are distant, but still act as the brightest representatives.

Such differences are called apparent magnitude. She is connected with the earthly observer. Therefore, scientists turn to a more accurate indicator - the absolute value (brightness at a distance of 10 parsecs). Send Deneb this distance and its magnitude becomes -8.4. Study the list of the brightest stars in the sky from the perspective of an earthly observer.

List of the brightest stars in the Universe visible from Earth

By human standards of life, all stars and constellations look the same. It’s just that they don’t have time to change over a period of 80-100 years. But if you lived for centuries, you would notice how they slowly shift - the correct movement. For example, Barnard's Star and 61 Cygni move at 10 and 3.2 arcseconds per year. But proper motion measures speed relative to our line of sight.

The brightest star in the Universe in the past

Radial movement reveals the secrets of leadership in past centuries. Light disappears with the inverse square of the distance. Take a burning candle and move it further. The light will remain the same, but it will not seem as bright to you.

We are now moving towards the solar apex point near the star Omicron Hercules at a speed of 16.5 km/s. But you can rewind the path back. For example, a Delta Scuti magnitude of 2.4 would increase to -1.8, exceeding the brightness of modern Sirius. And 4.7 million years BC. the star Hadara reached magnitude -4 instead of the modern 1.5.

Arcturus is currently diving through our galactic neighborhood at a rate of 2 arcseconds per year. It is very close to its maximum brightness (a process that takes 4,000 years) and will gradually begin to fade from view.

The brightest star in the Universe in the future

Get ready for the star Albireo to close its distance by 300 light years and reach a magnitude of -0.5. Future scientists will finally be able to find out whether it is a double pair or not.

For a clear answer to the question, which is the brightest star in the sky, you should rely on various ways measuring the brightness of these celestial bodies. Since there are several measurement methods and it is almost impossible to make an unambiguous rating of the brightest stars from different points of view, we will use the fact that we will determine how bright the celestial body looks from our planet. Although the most accurate value for studying the brightness of a star is absolute (meaning what an object looks like from a distance of 10 parsecs). Previously, many people were mistaken in believing that the brightest star was Polaris. However, in terms of its “shining” capabilities, this star is somewhat behind Sirius, and in the city night sky, due to the lighting of lanterns, finding the North Star can be problematic. Let's figure out which is the brightest star in the night sky that beckons with its magical radiance.

Among the brightest celestial bodies it is impossible not to mention the Sun, which in an ideal way supports life on our planet. It really shines brightly, however, on the scale of the entire Universe it is not too large and bright. If we find the absolute value, then this parameter for the Sun will be equal to 4.75. This means that if the celestial body was located 10 parsecs away, it would hardly be visible to the naked eye. There are other stars that are much larger in size than our heavenly body, and, therefore, shine much brighter.

3. CANOPUS

5 VY Canis Major